Friday, July 3, 2015

A lot of vintage buffs cringe when you use the 'R' word. You know the one, the one that makes you want to cry when someone says the words 'chalk paint'. You guessed it, that word is REPURPOSED. It is a very hot topic in vintage circles and causes many a hot debate. Some items turn out beautiful while others, well, you just want to punch that person in the face. I have a few examples:

I found this awesome vintage Art Deco vanity at a thrift store. Made of solid oak with beautiful hand cut dovetails and a very large, round leaded glass mirror.

OH THE HUMANITY!!!

WHY??? OH GOD WHY??? Someone decided it would be a 'great idea' to take this beautiful piece of handmade history and glob on 59 coats of white latex paint. To add injury to insult, they stenciled horrendous pink flowers all over it. I won't mention the string of plastic roses that were STAPLED around the gorgeous mirror. I had to rescue it! I have a lot of work ahead of me but I am determined to breathe life back into this beauty and find it a good home.

I actually like repurposing vintage items if there is no use for them as they are. Giving broken items a makeover and not having them dumped into landfills is a win-win for everyone. I had a few items I got in a lot that didn't really have any use. A silver plated meat fork that had all the plate worn off the back with spots of rust and a silver plated sugar bowl missing the lid with a lot of the silver worn off. These items probably would have ended up in the trash taking up more precious land most of us are trying to save. Lucky for them they ended up in my hands. I turned these unwanted items into wearable pieces of art.

VINTAGE MEAT FORK BANGLE

I shaped the fork into an oval bangle, added a red carnelian cabochon I took from a broken necklace and created the bezel from reclaimed silver I took from a broken weighted sterling candle holder.

MODERNIST VINTAGE SUGAR BOWL CUFF

I cut the bottom of the sugar bowl off and shaped it into a fluted cuff. I added some embellishments from scrap copper and a black onyx cabochon set in a copper bezel. A lot of the plate was worn so I incorporated that into the design.

Repurposed items aren't always a tragedy. But, if I hear 'chalk paint' and 'vintage' in the same sentence, thems fightin' words!

Share your repurposed items with me, I would love to see how creative you can be!

About Me

I am a bargain junkie and love to hunt for awesome treasures. When I happen to find those things I love to share them! I hope you find some awesome treasures here as well. Feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions or just want to say hi! Thanks for visiting!